FRISCO - The Dallas Cowboys and their "selectively aggressive" philosophy moved them to trade for George Pickens ... maybe putting a cork into some of the criticism that "America's Team'' is unwilling to do enough to compete.
But the next step remains undone. And the national media is getting that itch ...
All-Pro defensive star Micah Parsons this offseason responded to the Washington Commanders acquiring Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil to protect rising quarterback Jayden Daniels with three simple letters: WFT.
In response to Parsons' visible frustration, ESPN's Get Up! offers advice to the star, who is under contract for 2025 and has worked with the Cowboys in negotiating a contract extension that we believe could end in a five-year, $200 million deal that would make him the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history.
ESPN's advice? In short, "Dallas sucks.''
That day, host Mike Greenberg and panelists Dan Orlovsky and Damien Woody took turns ripping the Cowboys while also telling Parsons to leave Dallas ... with no details of what that strategy would look like.
"Get used to it," Greenberg said of other teams doing more than Dallas does.
Orlovsky: "The Cowboys are 13th in free-agency spending the last three seasons, yet their value has gone up $3 billion. That's an owner stat, not a football stat."
Woody: "I'm sick to my stomach if I'm Micah. The Cowboys are sitting back like 'all is well, status quo.' If you're Micah do you really want to be a part of that?''
Of course, here we are a few weeks later and ESPN feels all wrong. The Cowboys didn't "sit back.'' They are clearly trying to compete.
And yet ...
The national media advice never stops, with PFT's Mike Florio advising Parsons to stay away from offseason workouts until a new deal is done.
That advice ignores the fact that Parsons is presently under contract ... and as it includes the statement "the Cowboys are clueless,'' feels like nothing more that contrarian trolling.
And it echoes something Greenberg said in his "advice to Micah.''
"Do I want to be one of the biggest stars in the NFL - because the Cowboys can do that - or do I want to be on a championship team?'' he wondered. "Right now the Cowboys feel about as far from that as anyone in the entire league."